Neil Hannan's 2018 Vietnam Humanitarian Trip

Were it not for this bustling seaside city being the residence of Col. Tha, my former foe, it's unlikely that Nha Trang would have ever even been on my radar. Even though the 91 year-old retired Colonel is still recovering from surgery in Hanoi, we decided to travel 10.5 hours from DaNang to Nha Trang via train with hopes of being able to drop off gifts at his house. It was about a 30-minute walk from our hotel to Mr. Tha's residence. I was pleasantly surprised when Khanh, the Colonel's son, answered the door. Tha's wife was with her recuperating husband in Hanoi. I first met Khanh and his son in 2015, when the son served as interpreter during my initial meeting with his grandfather. Col Tha, his Grandson, and Neil 2015 Neil with Col.Tha, His Son & Grandson 2015 Although about to leave, Khanh cordially invited us into the house, where we presented gifts for his father....multi-vitamins and a specially-made Nhi Ha photo book. Khanh & Neil 2018 ...

Requested information from Spec 4 Joe LaFave (aka "Big Gun"), M-60 machine gunner for my platoon, has just arrived. He had written a review of the night of May 24, 1968, when two men from my squad were killed and three wounded while on a night listening post (LP). I wrote of this event in an earlier post, June 16 Getting It Off My Chest . Joe "Big Gun" LaFave Holding the M-60 Joe references a date of May 23, while I used May 24. The LP was sent out the evening of May 23, but the KIA date for McFaddin and Paterson was May 24. Without access to my letters and Joe's written review, I used the KIA date. Joe is correct that it all went down between 7 PM and midnight May 23. Here it is in Joe's words: On the night of 23 May 1968 five of our men were assigned to go out on Listening Post (LP) at about 1900 hours ( 7pm. ) Sp-4 Neil Hannan was saddled up and ready to go when it was decided that Sergeant Patterson would take his place. Sgt. Patterson ...

Into the Jungle...   Between the two busy cities of Hue and Da Nang, we detoured into the mountainous jungles of Bach Ma (an elevation of 4,100 feet above sea level) While a gorgeous, serene place, it is also a site rich in history. It has been utilized by the French, the Americans, and the Vietnamese. The plaques below reveal some of its history... Timeline of Bach Ma History The Summit Tower Built By the French View from the Summit Tower... you can see the road we took winding up the mountain. View From the Summit Tower One of the Tunnels built by the French Another tunnel built by the French Moving on from the historical significance of Bach Ma, scroll down to see how beautiful it is! There was the constant sound of cicadas chirping and screaming in the trees as we explored. Boy are they loud! I'm disappointed that we didn't see any large animals, but we did make it out without any leeches. We spent hours hiking, ...

Mr. Man, the Vietnamese fellow from DaNang who served with Delta Company 3/21 Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade 69-70, now has a spiffy 196th t-shirt. On June 11, Thong (Damn Guide) and I traveled via motorbike to Man's small jewelry store in DaNang to present the gift. This presentation allows Katie to retain her 196th hat. Whew. I worked my way out of that jam! The proud veteran continues to insist that he very clearly remembers Thua, who also served with the 196th Light Infantry. Much thanks is due fellow 2nd Platoon, A Company, 3/21 Infantry comrade Gary Bonar, who provided the shirts and hats. I was 3rd in line behind Sgt. Bonar and Sgt. King when we walked into a minefield coming off LZ Center. Both King and Bonar were injured and evacuated via dust-off chopper. Thong's eye, injured  June 12 in climbing LZ East, is coming along fairly well. When he came to see us off at DaNang train station June 15, the large initial bandage had been changed to a smaller one...

He was, I thought, a pathetic, ineffective leader of combat troops.   The disdain for this pompous captain was so universal that author Keith Nolan used an alias in referencing   him throughout his writing of “Magnificent Bastards”. He was my company commander (CO) from arrival in Feb ’68 until sometime in May, when his final act of reckless, arrogant disregard for his men ended in two men from my squad being killed and three wounded while on a night listening post (LP).   Another was at Nhi Ha, when he tried his best to sacrifice another LP, including me, to the whims of a large NVA force. I’ll restrict this discussion to these two events, as I can relate to both in a most intimate way. Both churned through my mind through the night, prompting this very real need to “get it off my chest”. It was maybe May 8 or 9, a couple days following the May 6 Nhi Ha battle that resulted in the loss of many men, that I and four others were ordered to pull night LP duty . An LP’...